Owners of 3,184 vehicles have made insurance claims totalling about 45.6 million baht for damage caused by flooding in Bangkok over the past week, according to the Office of the Insurance Commission (OIC).

OIC secretary-general Suthipol Taweechaikarn said the claims were filed under policies bought from 41 general insurance companies. The data was as of 9.30am Wednesday.

Around 70% of the claims were for flood damage to floors with repair costs estimated at 8,000 to 10,000 baht per vehicle, and seats (15,000-20,000 baht). The OIC estimates the cost of repairs to vehicles with flood-damaged lower consoles at 25,000-30,000 baht, and more than 30,000 baht for deeper immersion.

In the case of vehicles which had been totally submerged, insurers would pay out the full insured sum.

Thai media reported that Viriyah Insurance was hardest hit by the flooding on Friday and Saturday, with owners of 1,140 vehicles filing damage claims.

Mr Suthipol said payment would be made to holders of first-class insurance and to those who bought lower class policies but also paid the premium for flood damage cover.

He said the OIC was coordinating with insurance companies to speed up payments. Those who did not buy flood protection should refer to the OIC's median prices list when they get their vehicles repaired.

The downpour from Friday night through to Saturday morning in Bangkok caused widespread flooding in the capital, with 55 major roads reported under at least 15 centimetres of water.

The rain was reported to be heaviest in Phra Nakhon district, where 214 millimetres rainfall was recorded in the 24 hours from 7am Friday to 7am Saturday, but the drains can handle only 60mm a day. The deluge started at 11pm Friday.

Bangkok governor Asawin Kwanmuang on Saturday afternoon apologised to the public, saying City Hall had done its best but the rainfall was the heaviest seen in 25 years.

May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!

Hmm, Somchai and his former partner Einstein, are at it again! I would dearly like to know just how they have arrived at some of the claims being made with these "propeller-pump boats". It appears that along with the propeller, the boats now also have a "pump". What type of "pump" is not disclosed!

I recall posting about these boats previously, and I think that Terry agreed with me that it is all smoke and mirrors! Boat propeller calculations are as much art as they are science, very involved with endless variables. But the basic fact is that to be of any use, to impart a force on the water, the "boat" has to move through the water in reaction to the propeller on the water itself, otherwise it will just cause a bloody great area of stirred up turbulence!
And as the "boats" are tied up to some immovable object such as a pier, what do you think the result will be?

A "pump" of whatever design, probably a basic centrifugal type, will definitely shift some water, but what happens to that water when it reenters the flooded Klong? To me it will very rapidly lose any momentum it has and do sweet fanny adams towards increasing the flow of the flood.

Meanwhile, the navy has deployed 12 propellor-pump boats and their 86 crew members to help City Hall speed up the flow rate of Bangkok’s waterways, including Khlong Lat Phrao.
The boats were deployed on Tuesday night at the Naval Dockyard Department in Phra Samut Chedi district of Samut Prakan.

RAdm Watkit Yoksawat, deputy chief of Phra Chulachomklao Naval Dockyard, said each boat is capable of propelling 72 cubic metres of water per second as well as pumping 24 cu m of water per minute. The navy had 200 propellor-pump boats which can be deployed to areas in need.

With these vessels, the capital would have the capacity to propel water at 140,660 cu m per day, he said.

May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!

So how much water is being moved with these "boats"? Looking at the photo it does not seem to be doing a great deal?

RAdm Watkit Yoksawat, deputy chief of Phra Chulachomklao Naval Dockyard, said each boat is capable of propelling 72 cubic metres of water per second as well as pumping 24 cu m of water per minute.

72 cubic metres of water per second, ie., 720 metric tons, is 4,320 tons per minute, 259,200 tons per hour! Plus we have in addition a "pump" moving 24 cubic metres per minute, 1440 metric tons per hour, for a total of 260,640 metric tons of water per hour. WOW, some "boat"! That is more than 260 Million litres of water! I would love to see the "pump" and the engine driving it. Has to be at least a gas turbine engine from a 747!

I guess that my maths must be wrong, never was any good at maths.

edit: oops, yes the decimal point is in the wrong place

May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!

"People living near the Phong River have been urged to move their belongings to higher ground as quickly as possible as the Ubolratana dam in Khon Kaen on Friday stepped up water discharges following huge inflows.

A water management panel in Khon Kaen had resolved to increase the dam's discharge from 50 million cubic metres of water daily to 54 million cu/m, after a huge amount of water continued to flow into to the reservoir every day, said Songwut Kitworawut, director of the Nong Wai Operation and Maintenance Project in Khon Kaen"........

Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source

Communities living along the Chao Phraya River in Central Plains areas are suffering as run-off from the river continues to rise.

In seven tambons of Sapphaya district in the Central province of Chai Nat, thousands of villagers are suffering from ill-health with skin rashes as flood waters turn putrid and exude bad odours.

The murky flood waters prompted Sapphaya district chief Prapas Wandia to order officers to help pump and increase the circulation of water, and spray effective micro-organisms (EM) into the water to improve its quality.

The evidence of high flooding is pronounced in Bang Ban district in Ayutthaya. Known as a flood retention area, the level of water here has reached three metres, one metre more than local villagers expected.

The main road linking the community with nearby Phak Hai district was almost impassable as the road was under 60 cm of flood water, said Pol Col Kantaphong Nilkham, chief of Bang Ban district police, adding the water level was still rising.

Communities in the Sam Khok district of Pathum Thani were shocked to see a mass deluge after the flood level from northern runoff in the Chao Phraya River was compounded by high tides.

Pim Pawi, who lives in a house in Moo 3 in tambon Thai Ko of Sam Khok district said her home and other houses and riverside restaurants have been submerged by half a metre of water for a fortnight.

Thongplew Kongjun, deputy director of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, said the overall water situation in the Chao Phraya River is likely to improve as the level of flooding above the Chao Phraya dam at the C2 station in Ping River in Nakhon Sawan's Muang district measured yesterday was 3,049 cubic metres per second, lower from 3,059 cu/m per second, a day before.

He said the water might rise slightly, about 10cm until tomorrow, as runoff from the Ping River, via Kamphaeng Phet province and flowing from the Sakae Krang River, will add water volume above the Chao Phraya dam until tomorrow.

The flooding situation in the upper part of the country also remained critical yesterday as at least two major dams need to continue discharging excess water into the rivers, which were exacerbating flooding in communities along the rivers downstream.

To ease the draining, the navy yesterday sent 55 boats to help accelerate the speeds of the flow of water in Tha Chin River.

The engines of the boats -- while being locked in the same position -- are believed to improve the speed at which water drains into the sea and consequently the overall flooding situation in the Chao Phraya basin.

The situation in the northeastern region remains even more worrying. Ubol Ratana dam in Khon Kaen released 54 million cubic metres of excess water per day for three consecutive days, after the dam reached 122% storage capacity.

That spurred the authority to release a higher volume of water. As a result, swathes of land where residential communities and farms downstream of the Phong River were gravely affected.

The flood level has been so high that many villagers needed to leave their homes and camp on the streets.

Among them is Boonrod Sangchana, 74, a free-range duck keeper. Mr Boonrod packed a few basic necessities and dozens of ducks to stay on a dry road.

He said he was concerned for the safety of his ducks as motorists might hit them.

Another worry was the flood might make his ducks too stressed to lay eggs.

Downstream provinces have started to feel the impact. After the flood in Maha Sarakham province, the water released from a dam in Khon Kaen also flowed down to Kalasin and inundated three districts -- Khong Chai, Kamalasai and Rong Kham.

The water in the Chi River rose dramatically yesterday and nearly flowed over the flood wall built along more than 22 kilometres of the river.

That prompted provincial administrative officials to lay sand bags on top of the flood wall hoping to keep the rising water at bay.

Provincial governor Kraisorn Kongchalat admitted the water levels in the river had risen to a point that is close to the most critical point recorded in 2011 when the country had a similar major flood crisis.

Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source

Published: 23/10/2017 at 05:13 AM
.....
Provincial governor Kraisorn Kongchalat admitted the water levels in the river had risen to a point that is close to the most critical point recorded in 2011 when the country had a similar major flood crisis.

This is what is worrying me. We'll see when the water level in Pathum Thani starts rising. Re the 'pusher boats', am inclined to agree with Nereus re their effectiveness. Won't work unless completely shrouded and in an enclosed system. Might as well have all the households in Bangkok go out and stick their kitchen blenders in the river for similar effect.

If the device is increasing the water flow, then it follows that it must be pushing MORE water into the lower areas that are being flooded, thereby aggravating the situation!

The flood water HAS to drain into the sea, and the only way it can do that is through the mouth of the river where it enters the sea. The cross sectional area of the river mouth(any river), is fixed. The water that cannot escape simply slows down and backs up, causing the upper reaches of the river to overflow their banks.

It is a huge problem and is not going to go away, pusher boats or not. I have to wonder why the UK authorities spent so much on building the Thames Barrier, if a line up of boat pumps would have been so much more efficient!
Yes, some of the problem with the Thames is the inflow from the North Sea under high tide conditions, but the point is: to stop it you need some form of barrier to control the different levels of water.

I do not know what the answer is, but I do know that the cost of just one ridiculous submarine would go a big way towards fixing it!

May you be in heaven half an hour before the devil know`s you`re dead!

"Floodwater in some provinces south of Chai Nat, including Bangkok's adjacent Nonthaburi, could rise as much as 30cm as the Chao Phraya barrage faces heavy pressure from increasing run-off from the north.

The barrage will release even more water, despite authorities' promises to keep the discharge in check.

However, authorities insist that Bangkok will still be saved from flooding.

Royal Irrigation Department chief Somkiat Prajamwong held an urgent meeting Monday to assess the water situation as more run-off from the North has reached the barrage.

He said the Chao Phraya River's Ping, Yom and Nan tributaries were swelling due to heavy rainfall, forcing the barrage to release more water.

The RID will increase the water release to reach 2,700 cubic metres per second on Tuesday, from 2,600 cu/m per second Monday. The new level of the water release will be maintained for a week.".......

Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed. Source

Prachuap Khiri Khan braces for another round of flooding
Panlop Singhaseni, the governor of Prachuap Khiri Khan province, has ordered concerned officials to be prepared to cope with another round of flooding as the Thai Meteorological Department has predicted all 16 southern provinces will be hit by heavy rain brought by a depression storm from the night of Nov 1.

Mr Panlop gave this order while on an inspection trip to the Nong Ya Plong bridge at kilometre marker 365+628 and Wang Yao bridge at kilometre marker 386+542 on Phetkasem highway (Highway 2).